Friday, March 09, 2007
Kids These Days
Ok, first some excerpts from a story in today's Times:
Shortly after the game started, four young men sat behind us. They were obviously, visibly drunk. Very, very drunk. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But within seconds, three of them began shouting at the game -- very loudly -- using language that was inappropriate even for a hockey game. Seated right next to them was a seven-year-old boy, at the game with his father, and all around them were women ranging in age from 20 to 50. The one sitting next to the seven-year-old said to the father, "You should probably move him, huh?"
We kid you not; that's what he said.
After about ten minutes of this we turned around and asked them to please watch their language, adding that everyone wanted to enjoy the game, but we wouldn't hesitate to get them tossed if it became necessary. This shut them up for about a period.
Unfortunately, they were drinking from bottles in their jackets, and by the start of the second period had decided they needed to make some sort of a statement. The language ramped back up -- and we're talking bottom-of-the-barrel stuff here -- and people again began to squirm in their seats. Out of the blue another young gentleman appeared in front of us to tell us that he and his buddy, who were seated behind the wrecking crew, were "with us all the way."
Feeling old and out of touch, we went to pee. The Bruins were down by at least a goal by that point, by the way.
When we got back to the ramp-way, the usher made us wait for play to stop, and lo, standing next to us was one of the gentleman in question. He decided to start bumping up against us, and slurring some trash talk. Amazed -- truly -- at this bad decision, we asked him how old he was, and he answered, "23", then repeatedly asked how old WE were. He was too legless to notice that the usher, who was freaking out, had run to get security. We said, "old enough to know better -- and you should probably get out of here before security shows up."
While his brain struggled to determine if our remark was the reaction he'd been trying to provoke, security showed up just as play stopped. We went back to our seat, and he pled his case to the boys in blue, leading, not surprisingly, to his ejection. Bear in mind we hadn't called security on him -- the usher did it when he started bumping into us.
But his buddies didn't see it that way. After failing to talk the police out of tossing their pal, the remaining two geniuses filed back to their seats glaring at us. It should noted that the fourth one -- we'll call him D'Artagnan -- had not been part of the screaming and swearing, had been quietly pleading with them (to no avail) to "knock it off" and was now trying Very Hard to look like he was sitting with the people on his opposite side; it was actually funny watching him try to come up with a face that simultaneously said, "I can't believe they're doing this to you" to his friends, and "Will you PLEASE remove these ruffians?" to the police.
His pals weren't as smart. While one gave us his best, "We'll see what happens to YOU" look, the other said, "You got my brother tossed!" We turned around and said, "He got himself tossed, and--" which is when security re-descended and removed all of them, including D'Artagnan, who surreptitiously apologized as he filed out.
"We seem to be dealing with an awful lot of people who have zero conflict-resolution skills." No kidding.
Look, we were once a drunk 23-year-old at Bruins' games -- we had lots of drunk 23-year-old friends at Bruins' games, and we understand. But even we knew enough to...oh man, we don't even know how to explain it. There doesn't seem to be a line some of these kids won't cross anymore. Drunk and clueless doesn't begin to cover it. Nearly every week we see one of them decide to take on the entire Boston police department (with predictable results.) We're pretty sure that as bad as we were in our day, when the police showed up we and our friends knew enough to scram; these kids go toe-to-toe with them.
Every little issue escalates into a confrontation; glares in line turn to pushing, then to fights; the police show up and they don't even know enough to run.
What the hell is going on? It's like they all think they're living in the WWF.
- March 9, 2007
Violent Crime in Cities Shows Sharp Surge
By KATE ZERNIKE
Violent crime rose by double-digit percentages in cities across the country over the last two years, reversing the declines of the mid-to-late 1990s, according to a new report by a prominent national law enforcement association.
"There are pockets of crime in this country that are astounding," said Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, which is releasing the report on Friday. "It's gone under the radar screen, but it's not if you're living on the north side of Minneapolis or the south side of Los Angeles or in Dorchester, Mass."
"There's a mentality among some people that they're living some really violent video game," said Chris Magnus, the police chief in Richmond, Calif., north of San Francisco, where homicides rose 20 percent and gun assaults 65 percent from 2004 to 2006. "What's disturbing is that you see that the blood's real, the death's real."
Homicides increased 20 percent or more in cities including Boston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Hartford, Memphis and Orlando, Fla. Robberies went up more than 30 percent in places including Detroit, Fort Wayne, Ind., and Milwaukee. Aggravated assaults with guns were up more than 30 percent in cities like Boston, Sacramento, St. Louis and Rochester.
Police officials say the violence tends to happen among young men in their late teens and early to mid-20s. In some cases, it is random. But in many cases, it is among people who know one another, or between gangs, as a way to settle disputes. Arguments that 20 years ago would have led to fistfights, police chiefs say, now lead to guns.
"There's really no rhyme or reason with these homicides," said Edward Davis, the police commissioner in Boston. "An incident will occur involving disrespect, a fight over a girl. Then there's a retaliation aspect where if someone shoots someone else; their friends will come back and shoot at the people that did it."
In Richmond, Chief Magnus said he would often go to the scene of a crime and discover that 30 to 75 rounds had been fired. "It speaks to the level of anger, the indiscriminate nature of the violence," he said.
Many chiefs blame the federal government for reducing police programs that they say helped cut crime in the 1990s. But they also say the problem is economic and social. "We seem to be dealing with an awful lot of people who have zero conflict-resolution skills," Chief Magnus said.
Shortly after the game started, four young men sat behind us. They were obviously, visibly drunk. Very, very drunk. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But within seconds, three of them began shouting at the game -- very loudly -- using language that was inappropriate even for a hockey game. Seated right next to them was a seven-year-old boy, at the game with his father, and all around them were women ranging in age from 20 to 50. The one sitting next to the seven-year-old said to the father, "You should probably move him, huh?"
We kid you not; that's what he said.
After about ten minutes of this we turned around and asked them to please watch their language, adding that everyone wanted to enjoy the game, but we wouldn't hesitate to get them tossed if it became necessary. This shut them up for about a period.
Unfortunately, they were drinking from bottles in their jackets, and by the start of the second period had decided they needed to make some sort of a statement. The language ramped back up -- and we're talking bottom-of-the-barrel stuff here -- and people again began to squirm in their seats. Out of the blue another young gentleman appeared in front of us to tell us that he and his buddy, who were seated behind the wrecking crew, were "with us all the way."
Feeling old and out of touch, we went to pee. The Bruins were down by at least a goal by that point, by the way.
When we got back to the ramp-way, the usher made us wait for play to stop, and lo, standing next to us was one of the gentleman in question. He decided to start bumping up against us, and slurring some trash talk. Amazed -- truly -- at this bad decision, we asked him how old he was, and he answered, "23", then repeatedly asked how old WE were. He was too legless to notice that the usher, who was freaking out, had run to get security. We said, "old enough to know better -- and you should probably get out of here before security shows up."
While his brain struggled to determine if our remark was the reaction he'd been trying to provoke, security showed up just as play stopped. We went back to our seat, and he pled his case to the boys in blue, leading, not surprisingly, to his ejection. Bear in mind we hadn't called security on him -- the usher did it when he started bumping into us.
But his buddies didn't see it that way. After failing to talk the police out of tossing their pal, the remaining two geniuses filed back to their seats glaring at us. It should noted that the fourth one -- we'll call him D'Artagnan -- had not been part of the screaming and swearing, had been quietly pleading with them (to no avail) to "knock it off" and was now trying Very Hard to look like he was sitting with the people on his opposite side; it was actually funny watching him try to come up with a face that simultaneously said, "I can't believe they're doing this to you" to his friends, and "Will you PLEASE remove these ruffians?" to the police.
His pals weren't as smart. While one gave us his best, "We'll see what happens to YOU" look, the other said, "You got my brother tossed!" We turned around and said, "He got himself tossed, and--" which is when security re-descended and removed all of them, including D'Artagnan, who surreptitiously apologized as he filed out.
"We seem to be dealing with an awful lot of people who have zero conflict-resolution skills." No kidding.
Look, we were once a drunk 23-year-old at Bruins' games -- we had lots of drunk 23-year-old friends at Bruins' games, and we understand. But even we knew enough to...oh man, we don't even know how to explain it. There doesn't seem to be a line some of these kids won't cross anymore. Drunk and clueless doesn't begin to cover it. Nearly every week we see one of them decide to take on the entire Boston police department (with predictable results.) We're pretty sure that as bad as we were in our day, when the police showed up we and our friends knew enough to scram; these kids go toe-to-toe with them.
Every little issue escalates into a confrontation; glares in line turn to pushing, then to fights; the police show up and they don't even know enough to run.
What the hell is going on? It's like they all think they're living in the WWF.
